This invention relates generally to display units, and more particularly to display units which, while suitable for other purposes, are particularly useful in a retail or wholesale store or show room for displaying a variety of samples of relatively flat articles that are typically sold in bulk or large quantity such as roofing and flooring materials from which a consumer may choose.
One prior method of displaying floor samples such as carpeting includes mounting the carpet samples to a frame in an overlapping manner, with one sample mounted below the next, such that a particular sample may be viewed in full by lifting the samples mounted above it. However, such an arrangement is not generally suitable for certain materials such as ceramic tile or roofing samples.
A prior method that is used with samples such as linoleum is to simply slip the samples in a rack such that the any sample can be viewed in full by removing the sample from the rack. However, again this arrangement is not generally suitable for certain materials such as roofing samples which tend to be relatively heavy and not easily slipped into and out of a rack.
Another prior apparatus for displaying flooring samples includes the use of flip-type panels that are mounted in a frame along a wall. In such an arrangement, the panels overlap one another, and are mounted for swinging left and right such that any sample may be viewed in full by swinging the adjacent panels off of the panel carrying the sample to be viewed. Such an arrangement, however, requires substantial floor space and requires the customer to walk along the display to view the entire set of samples.
One prior arrangement for displaying merchandise such as posters includes the use of a rotating display. In this instance, the posters are displayed in panels that are mounted in a circular pattern in a rotatable frame. The panels are connected for swinging left and right, and are generally biased to a neutral position extending radially from the center of the frame. The entire set of posters on the display may be viewed from a single location by turning the display. Again, however, in order to view an entire poster, the adjacent posters must be swung out of the way, and in this instance, held in that position by the customer. Such an arrangement also requires substantial floor space since the panels extend radially outward, and since the posters may be viewed in any location around the display.
The nature of asphalt roofing, that is, its tendency to break if repeatedly bent, generally requires that samples be mounted to a board for viewing. For the reasons discussed above, and due to the nature of such samples and the relatively large number of samples available, none of the above methods has been extensively accepted in the roofing industry. Instead, roofing samples are typically stored on a collection of loose boards that may, if desired, be carried to a job site for further viewing. In those outlets that do have fixed displays of roofing samples, the samples are typically displayed by simply securing the samples along a wall in the showroom. This method, however, again requires substantial space if a relatively large selection of samples is to be displayed since, particularly since the entire sample must be exposed for viewing.
Thus, there is a need for an apparatus adapted display all types of merchandise samples of the general type discussed above, including roofing samples, and which is further adapted to display a relatively large selection of such samples in a relatively small space in a showroom or merchandise outlet, thus freeing up the space for other purposes such as the display of additional merchandise. Moreover there is an ever present need for displays that enhance merchandising and that aid the customer in the selection of a particular sample.